Publisher's Synopsis
Few people know that Leonardo da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli formed a lifelong friendship when da Vinci worked as a spy in Cesare Borgia's court and Machiavelli was his Florentine contact.
Astonishingly, during the rich first decade of the 16th century, the pair joined together under the inspiration of one of da Vinci's most fantastic lifelong dreams: to build a system of canals that would make the Arno River navigable from Florence to the sea. Under Machiavelli's close supervision the Florentine government tried - but failed - to realise a portion of this plan in 1503.
FORTUNE IS A RIVER opens a hidden window into the art, politics, intrigue, and genius of Renaissance Florence while weaving a brilliant narrative history of the relationship between two of its geniuses. With cameo appearances by the Medicis, Botticelli, Michelangelo, and Amerigo Vespucci - as well as beautiful reproductions of da Vinci's own line-drawings - this unknown story brings the Renaissance vividly to life.
